Leana HOCHART and Nina GUO ZHENG of France secured the gold medal in the Under 19 Girls Doubles Event at the European Youth Championships in Ostrava, defeating Veronika MATIUNINA of Ukraine and Matilde PINTO of Portugal in the final. Bronze medals were awarded to Anna HURSEY of Wales and Mia GRIESEL of Germany, as well as Bianca MEI ROSU of Romania and Sara TOKIC of Slovenia.
MATIUNINA, who won the title last year in Malmö alongside Italy’s Nicol ARLIA, was unable to repeat her triumph with her new partner PINTO against the top-seeded French duo.
“We knew we were the top seeds, but we didn’t take anything for granted. We approached each match individually and focused on playing our best every time. Veronika is very strong in doubles, so we were a bit nervous at first, but we calmed down as the match went on. Our coach gave us a really good tactical plan, which worked well,” said GUO ZHENG.
“I think the first game was the most difficult. We were leading 9-3, then fell behind 9-10, but managed to win 13-11. That gave us confidence for the rest of the match.”
HOCHART added: “It was a crazy feeling. This is our first title, and I’m really proud of us.”
In the semifinals, HOCHART and GUO ZHENG defeated the experienced pairing of Anna HURSEY and Mia GRIESEL in four games.
GUO commented: “We knew it would be a tough match, they’re very strong players and won gold at the European Under 21 Championships earlier this year. But we had a clear tactical approach and stuck to it. We were leading 2-0, they won the third game, and I got a bit nervous, but I managed to recover.”
HOCHART reflected: “For me, the most difficult match was actually the quarterfinal against Ulyana MIASHCHANSKAYA and Lizaveta TSIMASHKOVA. We were down 0-2 and 7-10 in the third game, but we came back to win 3-2. It was a really intense match, and I think it gave us the momentum we needed.”
In their semifinal, MATIUNINA and PINTO beat Bianca MEI ROSU and Sara TOKIC in straight games.
MATIUNINA said: “This is our first tournament together, so we’re very happy to have reached the final. Every match here is tough, so we focused on taking it one point at a time. The first two games were very close, but we stayed calm and closed out the match in the third.”
PINTO added: “Our tactic was simple, play our best and enjoy the match. We’re going into the final determined to win. This semifinal was probably our toughest match so far.”
Final
- Iulian CHIRITA of Romania and Tiago ABIODUN of Portugal – Dragos BUJOR and Robert Alexandru ISTRATE of Romania 3-0 (11-5, 11-6, 11-5)
Semi final
- Iulian CHIRITA of Romania and Tiago ABIODUN of Portugal -Rafal FORMELA and Alan KULCZYCKI of Poland 3-0 (11-6, 11-2, 11-5)
- Dragos BUJOR and Robert Alexandru ISTRATE of Romania – Yoan VELICHKOV of Bulgaria and Julian RZIHAUSCHEK of Austria 3-1 (11-9, 11-9, 2-11, 11-7)
